The dark powers on the right are amassing an army of 3rd party candidates that they think will dilute the votes to Biden because so many people are upset with his Presidency (Like really how bad has it been? forget about his age) so I am swinging back to thinking Trump has a chance now if Manchin, Kennedy or No Labels runs.
Having said that, do you really think Trump will be alive in 2028? He would be 82. BUT, I do think you are right, they would turn the USA into a mirror of Russia and just have sham elections that would put their candidates in perpetual power. I thought 2020 was going to be the year we had the riots and crazy shit but if Biden loses in 2024 and Trump comes into power again, you ain't seen nothing yet.